76. A war cannot be waged without a government to lead.

Verses (2:247, 2:248) talk about the history of a prophet earlier to him. 

The followers of this prophet were tormented and banished from their town. Though they were subjected to the extent of being banished they did not fight back under their prophet’s command, instead they requested their prophet to appoint a king under whom they were ready to fight back. As a response to their prayer, Al-Mighty God appointed a king by the name of Taloot and made fighting against injustice a mandatory duty for men.

From the history quoted above in the Quran we understand about two different laws: 

1.The first law we come to recognize here is the necessity for a government and a leader to wage and plan a war.

Because as can be seen from the above, though the community was subjected to innumerable torments, they did not fight back in spite of them having all the justification to do so.

The prophet who led them did not do it, but they demanded a king to lead them which was granted, and they started their fight against their enemies. 

If there wasn’t a necessity for a leader and a government to wage a war, Allah would not have granted their wish for the same.

2. Messengers of Allah were sent not to capture power in this world, rather to guide people towards the ideology of monotheism and morality.

Because a king is appointed by God Al-Mighty when a prophet is alive, and a necessity created by God where the messenger had to fight under him. God did not announce the prophet himself as the king. We come to understand that the messengers were not sent to this world to capture power. 

This stands as a warning to those who cite these verses to justify violence in the name of Jihad. We can conclude, the violence perpetrated by these people in the name of God is not a good act from this history narrated in the Quran. Organizing a fringe group and declaring ‘War in the name of Allah’, brain washing people to take arms and perpetrate violence are not the one categorized as jihadis but terrorists.

A community, though under a prophet, needs to create a government to wage a war is the message conveyed here, and this verse also belies the claim of these people.

To know more about war, terrorism, jihad please refer point explanations no's, 53, 54, 55, 89, 197, 198, 199, 203, 359

75. What is meant by ‘handsome loan’ mentioned in the Quran.

It is said in these verses (2:245, 5:12, 57:11, 57:18, 64:17, 73:20) to give ‘handsome loan’ to Allah. In religions other than Islam to give God is meant as contributions made to temple or other religious establishment coffers.

But in Islam giving God, denotes something given to the poor and needy. The commandments regarding economic needs connected with Allah are related to the poor and needy.

By the usage of this phrase ‘handsome loan’ God can be seen to convey two messages:

If a poor and needy is helped, God will repay the lender in multiples and, 

The help thus rendered to the needy will be taken as offered to God.

Some, after having helped a poor person expect something in return from them, or they publicize the help rendered by them, or tend to ill-treat the person they helped. When we believe the help rendered is for God’s sake, we would not expect counter benefits from humans. This is the second message

74. Is there a requirement in Islam to pay regularly for the maintenance (alimony) of divorced women?

In these verses (2:236, 2:241, 33:49, 65:6,7) of the Quran, it is conveyed, the divorced women need to be provided with necessities of life in a reasonable manner. 

It is imperative we point out the discrepancy in explanations by some scholars in this regard.

The divorced women need to maintain a gap of three months before they remarry, this period of time (the gap) is known as Iddah. These scholars declare the above verse refers maintenance to be paid only for the iddah period (of three months).

They cite verse 65:6 of the Quran for their claim. This verse also says if the women is carrying at the time of divorce she needs to be paid until she delivers the baby. Hence, the claim for the alimony (maintenance to be paid) is only for the three months.

Their argument is entirely wrong. This verse (65:6) talks about the additional maintenance that has to be borne by the husband due to the reason she is carrying his baby at the time of divorce. 

Had they gone through the words in this verse, they would not have come to such a conclusion. 

If it is taken as the maintenance is meant only for the iddah period alone, the Al-Mighty would have mentioned it. But He says in this verse ‘in a reasonable and just manner’

After having lived with a woman, and having enjoyed her youth, paying maintenance only for three months for the rest of her life does not amount to be reasonable or just.

If a woman belonging to one’s family is subjected to such a situation, the conclusion he comes to, has to be considered as reasonable and just. 

Verse (2:236) of the Quran says, the wealthy and the needy are required to pay the security money to the divorced as per their affordability.

If the man initiating the divorce is a millionaire it is the responsibility of the concerned jamaat to make him pay accordingly, and similarly if he happens to be a needy person, payment is what he can afford. This needs to be properly taken care of by the arbitrators. The devout are duty bound to monitor its execution.

At present the members constituting the concerned jamaat are interested only in the return of the dowry from the husband, even if there was no divorce it is the duty of the concerned jamaat to get the dowry money paid by her. 

Hence the return of dowry and divorce are not connected to each other. The duty of each concerned jamaat is to take into consideration the sufferings of the divorced and concentrate on getting the lump sum amount as security money for the divorced.

The non-implementation of these religious commands results in the Muslim community being targeted with various barbs that are used as propaganda against Islam. There are attempts to force false alimony on Muslims.

Hence the local jamaats should take care in analyzing this verse very carefully and be God fearing in their duty in obtaining justice for the women. 

There is a law in our country that stipulates a certain amount of money be paid to the divorced, and there is a persistent demand it should be implemented by the Muslims too

and there is a demand being made to abolish the Muslim Personal Law, Sharia and implement the Uniform Civil Code. Efforts are being made to spread messages in this regard.

Islam does not recognize the payment of alimony to the divorced women to subject hardships on them, but to arrange better alternatives that benefit women. 

The women spend half the money before they could successfully lay their hands on their first installment of their monthly maintenance.

Most of the men escape paying the correct livelihood expenses to their divorced wives by presenting false accounts about their earnings or by paying a paltry amount.

The laws promulgated by nations to pay alimony to divorced women are implemented with a condition they should not remarry. But once they remarry the law in these countries stops payment of maintenance money to them.

Once she receives regular monthly maintenance, the women are discouraged from remarriage, because payments to her are stopped on remarriage. Though alimony to a certain extent eases her financial difficulties it does not provide a solution to her bodily needs. and may instigate her to get involved in immoral activities. 

This is the reason why alimony is not welcome by Muslims. 

Real alimony is the one that is given by the husband to the divorced wife at the time of divorce taking effect, as a one time lump sum.

To know more about divorce in Islam please refer explanation point no's 66, 69, 70, 386, 402, 424

73. About loan waiver in Islam 

The rich are required to help the needy and others by giving out their excess wealth to people such as loans or charity. But some Muslims without any qualms charge interest for the money they lend out to the needy. 

Charity made with the intention of pleasing Allah alone is accepted by Him. But Allah relaxes rules when it comes to people giving out loans. When the money given as loan shows no signs of return and waived off, it is deemed as charity accepted by God is what this verse (2:280) conveys.

Though while lending we did not have the intention of charity in our mind, Allah blesses us with a concession of benefits by treating the unreturned money as charity.

Similarly, a person who is duty bound to pay zakat can also treat the money not returned as zakat paid by him. 

72. How to worship in situations of fearfulness?

In this verse (2:239) the Quran speaks of worshiping during fearful times with enemies around or due to some other distress, where one can worship and pray either while walking or in a vehicle, and once having crossed the dangers remember Almighty normally the way as taught by Him says the verse.

And it also says ‘Allah has taught you the ways to worship in normal times. But there are no lessons found in the Quran about ways to perform worship. There has to be no confusion regarding this, because Prophet Muhammad has shown us the ways to worship during the normal times. Here the Almighty alludes to those taught by Prophet Muhammad as His teachings. 

We come to understand teachings of Prophet Muhammad are from the side of Allah and they along with the verses of Allah are essentials of Islam is evident here. 

To know more about Prophet Muhammad’s guidance is necessary along with Quran please refer explanation points 18, 36, 39, 50, 55, 56, 57, 60, 67, 105, 125, 127, 128, 132, 164, 184, 244, 255, 256, 258, 286, 318, 350, 352, 358, 430

71. Mid worship (Not Midday) (salah), as proof for the number of worshiping per day is five.

In this verse (2:238) of the Quran we find a message asking people to hold on to the five times worship of the Al-Mighty particularly the middle one of the five (Asr) times.

Prophet Muhammad has explained the middle worship of the five times worship as Asr time worship.

Hadith Book Bukhari:6396. 

We need not take into consideration others view when Prophet Muhammad has explained about which is the middle of the five times worship of the day.

This verse also conveys a message. We already know Muslims must worship five times a day and the existence of several hadiths on this. This is the practice of Muslims right from the time of Prophet Muhammad, for the past fourteen centuries.

However, some foolish Muslims keep saying, there is no mention in the Quran of five times a day worship, hence five times a day worshiping is against the Quran. 

Of course, there is no mention in the Quran of the number as five times a day. But there are several verses in the Quran that indirectly convey the number of worshiping a day as five. This is one of those kinds of verses. Though this verse does not mention the number of worshiping as five directly, it conveys not less than five times. 

Let us see how? 

This verse says to keep worshiping particularly the middle one. 

The word worship is an expression of plurality, in Arabic unlike the English language there is in existence something called a doublet to refer two things together, and Arabic plural refers to when there are more than two. 

A (minimum of three times) worshiping plus (the middle) one adds up as four, and the word middle suggests the number to be even. There is no middle number when the count is four. Only when the count is five, can we choose the middle one. Hence it needs to be concluded that the number of worshiping a day is five.

Though as per their contention when we take the number (of worshiping) as three the middle one can be pointed out as the one in the middle of the two, but the mention of the plural (three and more) word (worshiping) in addition to the middle one only can be considered the number as five. 

The usage of the plural (of worshiping) in Arabic along with the middle one of the worshiping leads us to believe the number as five.

We need to understand another message about this verse. Some argue this verse states dawn as the start of the day. 

Since Asr has been declared as the middle worship of the day in hadiths, they argue the first worship of the day is Fajr, hence the beginning of the day is dawn. This argument by them runs hollow as shown in our explanations point 361. 

To get more information about the number of worshipping as five please refer to explanation point no 226. 

70. Forgoing Mahar by men is desirable.

The verse (2:237) of the Quran says ‘For you (men) foregoing the Mahar offered by you is desirable. 

Exegetes differ in interpreting the word ‘You’ in this verse as either wife or husband. 

The phrase ‘Foregoing is desirable for you’ denotes men is the correct analyses.

If a divorce takes place before the consummation of marriage, men must pay half the Mahar agreed. Men should come forward to hand out the entire amount or in fact more than that. 

In Arabic, the word ‘you’ is used in two different contexts with word structures while referring the two sexes

Here the word structure used refers to men. 

Hence it must be taken as foregoing Mahar by men as desirable. 

In continuation the Quran says foregoing Mahar takes you close to being devout. ‘And do not forget there is greatness in some amongst you.’ This refers to the greatness in women. Foregoing of Mahar is considered desirable by men. 

Though most explanations given by others for this verse represent both sexes, we find this mistaken on literary grounds as well on the demands of sense of justice. This verse 2:237 of the Quran stresses the need on the part of men to show generosity. When the woman is considered a victim of divorce, Allah would not wish her to waive.

To know more about divorce please refer explanations points 66, 69, 74, 386, 402, 424 

69. What is the need for a period of ‘Iddah’ in women? 

These verses of the Quran (2:228, 2:231, 2:232, 2:234, 2:235, 33:49, 65:1) speak about women not to immediately go for remarriage on losing their husbands, but to hold on for an intermediate period (2:228, 2:231, 2:232, 2:234, 2:235, 33:49, 65:1) known as ‘Iddah’. 

Verses 2:234, 2:235 of the Quran say the intervening period is four months and ten days from the day of death of husband to the day of remarriage.

And the verse 65:4 specifies the period as three months for women pregnant from the earlier marriage and those menopaused.

In the view of some the stipulation of the kind of ‘Iddah’ that applies to pregnant widowed applies exclusively to those of the divorced is not acceptable. This verse generally uses the term women’s Iddah for the divorced as well as widowed. 

This law is not inimical to women. It brings immense benefits to them.

May be the women was carrying the child and the husband passed away and remarrying immediately without the intervening ‘iddah’ would raise questions about the male parenthood of the child on delivery. The second husband would disclaim the baby. 

The family members of the first husband would also disclaim the baby on their part. The child is subjected to psychological torture and loses the claim to tag itself as the legal heir.

And if the second husband decides and accuses her of having carried another’s child and cheated him, her future also becomes a question mark.

Some people may think one month is good enough to find out if the women is consummated, and an intermediary period of three months and ten days is too long a gap. And the argument is the subsequent month would reveal she is not carrying once she experiences her menstrual cycle.

This is a wise question, but to prevent certain practical difficulties Islam lays down the period as four months and ten days. 

A women can, despite having the knowledge of her pregnancy in the first month itself, still can manage to hide the fact to get married at the earliest. This story cannot be played with the gap of three months and ten days, because by that time her pregnancy will be revealed physically.

If she happens to deliver a baby six or seven months after her second marriage the chances of the husband growing suspicious are more. This cannot be said in the case of a second marriage taking place after a period of four months and ten days after the demise of the first husband. And the second husband would understand had she been carrying; it could have shown itself visibility in four months. 

Thus, for the kinds of reasons as shown above, to bring benefits for women thereby, for them to have a happy future, and for the future safety of their children God has made an inbuilt arrangement in these laws. 

And it has also been scientifically proved a period of four months and ten days needs to be maintained in the case of remarriage of women losing their husbands. 

A Jewish scientist by the name of Robert Gilham undertook a study on this subject,

He found that during sexual intercourse a man leaves his sex prints in the woman that lasts up to three months inside her. Accordingly, he undertook another study in the US in an area predominantly populated by Afro-Americans and found that the Muslim women had the sexual imprints of only their husbands. 

At the same time, he undertook a study among American women living in a street adjacent only to find different imprints in them. He found three different kinds of imprints in them. 

Robert Gilham immediately subjected his wife to undergo the same study, and found she had three kinds of sexual imprints, this shocked him and declared only one out of his three sons who carried his lineage as his biological son.

If a woman remarries within one or two months after the husband’s demise, the chances of the baby’s DNA not matching the second husband is possible and chances of matching the first husband is not ruled out. 

This discovery also necessitates the need for ‘iddah.’ 

There would not be any confusion regarding DNA if the woman remarries after a period of four months and ten days.

The reason for Robert Gilham to believe Quran as the word of God and his consequent reversion to Islam is this law on Iddah in Islam.

We can understand the importance of the law on Iddah from these happenings.

Some Muslim's lock up women in the dark for four months and ten days in the name of Iddah. Iddah must be understood as a period intermediary between the demise of a husband and remarriage, and within which no activities like dressing etc., as a provocation for marriage to be undertaken. 

Other than this there is another Iddah. This is specified as a period of three menstrual cycles to be passed before the women could remarry after she has been divorced for the first time by the husband. Within this period, regulated as three menstrual period the husband is allowed to reunite again. This kind of iddah can be seen mentioned in verses 2:228, 2:231, 2:232, 33:49, 65:1 of the Quran. 

This kind of Iddah does not carry any rider with it other than not to remarry within it. 

To know more about iddah please refer explanation points 360, 404, 424.

To know about divorce please refer explanation points 66, 70, 74, 386, 402, 424